Hospital cup



y 1954 .1. v. HOSTETTER HOSPITAL CUP Filed April 10, 1962 Jaw K Has/[77:12

BY M/W INVENTOR- ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,134,523 HOSPITAL CUP John V. Hostetter, 5216 Cochran Road, Beitsvilie, Md. Filed Apr. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 186,389 1 Claim. (Cl. 222572) This invention relates to a hospital cup for use by patients to enable them to drink therefrom in comfort in a prone position, without requiring them to rise to a sitting up or standing position.

The object of this invention is to extend the rim upwardly around one side of the cup and provide an opening at the base of said extension, which opening may be applied to the lips of a prone patient from one side of his mouth, and the cup then tipped will enable the patient to drink through said opening, while the rim extension will prevent the liquid above the base of said extension in the cup from spilling over the top thereof as the cup is tipped to provide ample liquid flow to said opening.

A further object is to provide said opening with a short straw spout to facilitate sealing the lips over the opening and thus overcome any tendency to dribble from the mouth.

A further object is to make this hospital cup of foldable material such as paper, so that the rim extension may be folded down into the cup at its base, substantially flat against the inside of the normal cup rim, for use as an ordinary plain cup, and for stacking, and when desired, the extension may be pulled out for use as a hospital cup.

Other and more specific objects of this invention will become apparent in the following detailed description in connection with the illustrations in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a cup made in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side elevation thereof,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a side view of the cup in tilted position, indicating the level of the liquid above the spout opening, without spilling over the rim extension.

The general shape of the cup is substantially cylindrical, with a flared upper portion, or tapered downwardly all the way to the base. The taper may be curved as shown in the drawing.

The rim of the cup is extended upwardly around one side of the cup to form the extension 10, for preventing spilling of the liquid 12 in the cup 14, when it is tilted toward said side, so as to pour through an opening 16 provided in said side at the base 18 of said extension.

The opening 16 may be provided with a conduit spout or short straw 20 to enable a prone patient to seal his or her lips over this opening, through which he or she may drink a liquid from the cup, as it is tilted to pour the liquid through said opening, without spilling over the rim extension 10. The cup may be made of rigid materials, such as metals or ceramics, or it may be of foldable materials, such as paper, in which case the rim extension 10 may be folded at the base 18, inwardly flat against the inside of the rim of the cup, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3. This will facilitate stacking and packaging the cups, as Well as using them as ordinary plain cups, while permitting them to be used as hospital cups, when desired, by pulling out the rim extension flap in extension of the normal rim. When this extension flap is pulled out, it also causes the opening 16 and the spout or straw 20 to open fully. When the flap is folded in, the spout 28 is flattened out, and may be folded down over the outside of the normal rim at the base 18 of the extension flap.

Many obvious modifications in form and construction materials may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A hospital cup comprising a vessel having an open top and a flat closed bottom,

said top having a substantially horizontal rim portion around one side of the vessel, said rim being extended upwardly for a distance around the other side of the vessel, said vessel having a substantially cylindrical lower portion with a slight taper downwardly and a flared upper portion forming a curved bulge which is widest at the level of the top of said horizontal rim portion,

said extended rim being curved above said widest dimension of the flared upper portion symmetrically with respect thereto,

an opening at the base of said extended rim,

said rim portion and extended rim forming a pocket around said opening at the base of the extended rim when the cup is tilted for dispensing liquid contents through said opening to facilitate drinking from said cup in a prone position, and

a tubular spout extending from said opening,

the material of said vessel being foldable at the base of said extended rim for folding in said extended rim flush against the inside of said curved bulge, for easier stacking and for use as an ordinary plain cup.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,268 Campbell Mar. 20, 1883 432,308 Guilbert July 15, 1890 1,413,282 Lowenstein Apr. 18, 1922 1,543,209 Fulton June 23, 1925 2,154,584 Rossi Apr. 18, 1939 2,202,652 Glidden May 28, 1940 2,627,735 Dexter Feb. 10, 1953 2,673,563 Kwast Mar. 30, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,124 Great Britain of 1897 860,744 France Oct. 7, 1940 

